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Sony E3 Press Conference Review

My Body Was Ready!

I feel like I should start this article by clarifying that I am probably the biggest Sony fan you are ever likely to meet. I own every console they have every made (even 3 variations of PS3) and I am a big advocate of their phones. However, I feel like this will not cloud my judgement of critiquing Sony in any way – I am able to call them on the bullshit they try to pull from time to time. I am not blinded by them…but I will say, Sony definitely won E3!So, let’s get it started! Coming into this press conference, there was a lot I wanted to see, Crash Bandicoot coming back, Gran Turismo taking to the stage but most of all I wanted to FINALLY see what would become of The Last Guardian. So, with that said, I was pumping myself up for about a month thinking “this is it! We are finally going to see The Last Guardian!”…but I was not prepared for Sony to wheel this game out to kick the press conference off! TO KICK IT OFF! Sony know how to make an entrance I will give them that!

While nothing new came to light (it was the same game play demo we have seen back in 2009) but we finally found out it WILL be coming out and Sony have moved development to PS4 instead of the PS3. Not really a surprise to be honest! All I can say on this announcement is…I can’t wait until 2016! This game looks absolutely beautiful, I got my pre-order in already! If Trico dies however, I will not be a happy bunny!

“Tricccooo!” He Lives!

After The Last Guardian, my hype levels were suitably raised to momentous levels, surely it was all down hill from here? I mean, where do you go from showcasing this? Well, I will tell you where! How about a new IP from Guerrilla Studios? Sure, the last few iterations of Killzone have been a bit lackluster, but we all know Guerrilla are a studio full of talent, and a change in direction was ( I feel ) exactly what this studio needs.

And that is exactly what they done! They showed off a CGI trailer, about the world coming to an end, nature reclaiming cities, human life restricted and almost wiped out…and then it happens. Robots, GIANT ROBOTS! Robots not enough? Ok, how about, GIANT ROBOT DINOSAURS! The CGI trailer goes into game play so seamlessly, and the game play looks absolutely delightful. I knew Guerilla are good at developing and scalping worlds but this is another level for them. Horizon : Zero Dawn can not come soon enough!

Next up on stage, was Square Enix staple – Hitman. Now, I know a lot of people are a bit ‘meh’ when it comes to the Hitman games, but I am personally really happy to see it getting rebooted. Hitman games offer a lot of creative freedom when it comes to tackling objectives, and this one seems no different, with the developer suggesting there will be more or less no restrictions in how a player can go about the mission. You will have to unlock the tools, but you can do it however you want. The most intriguing part of this announcement is the developer IO Interactive will be aiming for a digital release, with the world ever-expanding, so whether this will be a full retail game or coming in at around £25 or so – remains to be seen. I will be there day one whatever the case.

This announcement lead into a game play video for Street Fighter V, and while this is a big coup for Sony, I am just not interested in Street Fighter anymore – Mortal Kombat X is more my style and that is where I will stay.

A game I am really interested in was up next though, Sean Murray comes on stage to show off game play for the much-anticipated ‘No Mans Sky’. I don’t think a game world can get any bigger, it looks absolutely huge! The visuals and sound design for this game are great, but at this point, I have seen and heard enough about this game that all I want is a release date – which never came. So I would be very, very surprised if we saw it this side of Christmas.

Media Molecule then took to the stage to unveil their new IP “Dreams”. A painting-type app where you draw your own characters and then….do stuff with them? I am actually not that sure what you do after the creation part to be honest. I am not even sure who would buy a game like this, sure, it looks impressive, but it seems very limited from what we have saw so far.

After Media Molecule, a familiar face came out on stage, Mr Adam Boyes! That was when I knew it was about to go down! Adam was about to unleash those megatons! And he did not disappoint. Sure, he started off with the usual snooze fest Destiny and Assassins Creed promo, but then he went onto more exciting stuff! Unveiling a new Final Fantasy Title, a cutesy strategy RPG titled ‘World of Final Fantasy’, he was preparing us, we should have seen it coming! A CGI trailer roles, and while I am not personally that excited for it (never played the original!) I knew the hype machine was going to go into full effect. FINAL FANTASY 7 REMAKE! It’s real people, it’s real!

So, so far we had The Last Guardian and Final Fantasy 7 remake – the hypes over now, surely that’s the end of the conference? Where do we go from here? Surely the only way is down? WRONG! How wrong I was! For this part of the article though, I don’t think it’s fair for me to try and write it, so I sought the words of a true fanboy, someone who could put the hype into words better than I ever could!

*Hands mic to MrLuvvaLuvva*

A few weeks ago I was thinking of my dream E3 announcement. It’s no secret that I am a lover of the SEGA Dreamcast (still the best console ever made imho) and as a result my dream(cast) announcement would undoubtedly be Shenmue 3. That would never happen though…

…then it did happen! And I lost my shit! I was lying in bed beside and I was literally shaking with excitement! The game that I stopped playing because I didn’t want it to end (Shenmue 2) the game that I have begging for, for 14 years was being unveiled before my eyes…I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and seeing.

Shenmue 3!

Shen. Mue. 3!

SHENMUE 3!

Shenmue 3 is happening with Yu Suzuki at the helm! It was everything I could have asked for Ryo and Shenhua were exactly as we left them. I felt the shakes, I felt the excitement, I felt a little emotional. It was happening, on kickstarter, right now.

I jumped to Kickstarter and backed this project for $29 straight away. I bored MrsLuvva the entirety of the next day and I have bought cables to allow me to stream the Dreamcast and Shenmue 1 & 2 for my followers. I even upped my pledge to $100 I NEED my name in the credits.

In one small moment Sony made my dream come true. My dream game was real, I’ll finally get my revenge on Lan Di.

After the amazing Shenmue reveal (backed it by the way!), we went into the typical spiel of Project Morpheus, which I am interested in it, I really need to see a price tag right about now Sony. I am willing to pay up to maybe £200-250 for it, but anything higher and it will be DOA. Seriously DOA!

The rest of the show was Call of Duty announcing they have “First On” rights with Playstation for DLC for the upcoming Black Ops 3, and then we got to see some game play of Uncharted 4 to wrap up the show.

I have never seen an E3 show like it, it was so much hype in such a short space of time – it was a dream E3 for PlayStation fans/owners!